Collisions of Destinies
by GabeMart6
Summary: What if Lyra did not contact Saw when Krennic came knocking? What if her brother, Kento Marek, sensed the trouble the Ersos were in and decided to come to the rescue? How would events unfold from there? Only time will tell. This is my starting of a fusion canon saga that I'm starting with my "What if Starkiller was in Rogue One?" idea. Please review w/ constructive criticism!
1. The Calm Before the Storm

**The Calm Before the Storm**

 _ **Lah'mu: 17BBY**_

 _ **Galen**_

Three years. Nearly three years on this perfectly ordinary backwater planet and Galen Erso still lay awake. His mind restless, full of fears and paranoid fantasies in which his old "friend" would come to find him and his family. Oh, he tried to convince himself every night that his dreads were unfounded. Lah'mu was an unremarkable planet in the Outer Rim territories, mountainous and green, with no indigenous life to speak of. Just over 500 settlers inhabited the entire world, mining or farming, and none of them having the aspirations to do anything else. Krennic would never think to look for Galen in a place like this, or so the aging man hoped.

A few years ago, Galen would've been of the same mind as his old friend. He craved work, craved the challenge of ever expanding sentient understanding of the universe. The Erso patriarch had indeed expected he would go mad with boredom when he ran here with Lyra and Jyn. But he never did. Oh, the pace of life was certainly something he had to get used to, but instead of encountering mindless hours of tedium, he enjoyed precious—

"Daddy" A quiet feminine voice called out.

It pulled Galen from his thoughts as he turned his head, almost with instinctual attentiveness, and saw his little Jyn in the doorway to his and Lyra's bedroom.

The ex-scientist got to his feet. "Did you have a nightmare, Stardust?" he whispered. She nodded in the affirmative.

The elder Erso then kneeled to her level. "Do you want to hear another story about your uncle?" He asked.

"Yes!" She exclaimed softly.

Galen then walked with his daughter to her room and sat down at the feet of the bed and began with another about Kento Marek, Lyra's brother. He knew his wife did not love the stories he told their daughter about him, but if old half-true stories of a Jedi of old made his Stardust sleep, he could live with his wife's disapproval.

 _ **Space Above Lah'mu: 17BBY**_

 _ **Krennic**_

Unbeknownst to Galen, he was not the only one experiencing an early morning. Hundreds and hundreds of metres above the grey tranquil skies of Lah'mu, a _Venerator_ -class Star Destroyer had made its harbour. Aboard, the entire morning-shift crew was abuzz in scuttlebutt. Lah'mu was a galactic backwater, full of moisture farmers and hermits. 'Why would the Director come here?' They all thought. The crew of the _Avenger_ was used to secrecy, more than most details their Academy comrades were given, but that usually manifested in travels to hidden bases, roundabout hyperspace jumps, and wiping the navicomputer history. Not travelling to the humid version of Tatooine. Any whisperings though, shrunk to complete silence at the sound of black clickity clack boots and the swish of a cape followed by the sight of their grey-haired commander, with the most piercing cold blue eyes any of them had ever seen. Director Orson Krennic was not the type to suffer gossip or idle chatter.

Soon the authoritative man had finished his trek to the bridge and found himself, as he had frequently over the past years, genuinely puzzled.

"Report" he demanded.

"Reconnaissance probes have confirmed a match with what the cargo pilot told us" his First Officer began. "No organised defences of any kind, no shielding around the domiciles, however with all these ionic storms it will take at least an hour and a half before we can send anyone down to the coordinates"

"Ionic storms? The pilot said nothing about atmospheric interference"

"I don't think he knew" The FO replied "While he mentioned bad weather, the ionic nature was barely detectable to even our scanners. His ship likely never picked it up."

"He got lucky and dropped the targets on a clear day" the Director surmised. "You have an hour fifteen to oversee the preparation of my landing squad Delain, make sure it's ready to depart as soon as we have an opening."

The commander nodded and left. Krennic then turned his attention to the view screen

'Are you really here, Galen?' he wondered. What puzzled him so much, and what infuriated him so much, was how simple the solution to his problem was. Krennic assumed Galen would have scurried off to Mon Cala or Bothawui, somewhere where he could be protected and have facilities to work, to keep that mind of his busy. But no, now he realised how little sense that made to a short-sighted man like Galen. A man with with all the brains…but none of the ambition to use them. That had been Krennic's failing, funnily enough; he had assumed his old friend smarter than he was. Now he was here, and the Director would find out in soon whether the cargo pilot's words spoke truth. He scoffed in incredulity. To throw away ultimate glory for family. He would never understand. He swiftly turned and, with a swish of his cape, was gone from the bridge.

 _ **Kashyyyk: 17BBY**_

 _ **Kento Marek**_

Kento Marek was never a man who slept well. When he was a pupil at the Jedi Temple, his instructors would chastise him for falling asleep during meditation. Later on, into the Clone Wars, his problem got worse. He witnessed things no Jedi, that no sentient should see. His restless nights turned to sleepless nights during those years. The ex-Jedi often wondered if his little problem had contributed to him leaving the Jedi Order. Sure, plenty of Jedi found themselves in romantic yearnings like he had, but seldom abandoned the Order because of them. He was one of the few friends of Obi-Wan that knew of his intense attachment to Siri Tachi. But, like a good Jedi, Kenobi conquered those feelings and continued serving the Code. It was this thought, when he first had it, that revealed to Kento that he was not a good Jedi. He was tired of war, of politics, of half-finished missions that always resulted in more death. All he needed was to meet someone like Mallie on Talus, and he had all the reason in the galaxy to leave the Jedi behind.

In the tranquil forests of Kashyyyk, in this humble abode, Kento felt more at peace with his wife and small son than he ever had within the pristine hallowed halls of the Temple. There were still plenty of nights were he could not sleep, but the presence of his family always helped soothe his anxieties…

Except for today.

The Marek patriarch was never gifted in the more obscure talents of the Force, but the cold chill he felt throughout his spine gave him the feeling that Darkness was coming and that it was coming soon. Disturbingly enough, said darkness was centred around his baby sister, Lyra

So the old ex-Jedi Knight lay in bed next to his slumbering wife, full of unease and pained love for his sister and her family. A storm was coming, he knew. He wondered if he'd be ready when it did.


	2. Stirring Winds

_AN(1): Thanks to everyone who has followed and favourited the story. This is my first major project and I'm excited to be on this journey with you all! Please enjoy and review!_

Stirring Winds

 _ **Lah'mu**_

 _ **Krennic**_

An hour and fifteen later, Krennic and his compliment of 'Death Troopers' disembarked his Destroyer on his _ST 149_ shuttle, and would hopefully soon be at Galen's hovel. His mind was bustling with activity, as was especially usual when he had anxiety on completing a task. He needed his pig-headed friend back on the project, as much as he pained to admit it. Tarkin had become steadily more unbearable by the month and, well, the Grand Moff would be the least of his troubles if he had to report another setback to the Emperor.

"Entering the atmosphere, sir" the pilot announced over the comm.

The shuttle rocked slightly, but otherwise made the trip perfectly through the uppermost layers of Lah'mu's ionic ether. From the view port, he could see the landscape far below. It was certainly a beautiful planet, in a rustic sense. The grass plains reminded him of the historical holos he watched as a small boy, showing the state of his home planet, Lexrul, decades before he was born when Satrivan City was a small farming colony.

There was not a structure of any significance until the shuttle crossed a small lake, and then he could see it: Over in the distance, past the sand fields, a small white structure.

'Galen!' he thought. 'It had to be him.'

"We're approaching the domicile, sir" came the crackled voice of the pilot over the comm.

There was plenty of space for the shuttle to land, Krennic saw that. The question was, which move could he take here that best guaranteed that Galen would return to him. He did a cursory survey of the surroundings in his mind. "Land over by the sand fields" he finally commanded. Best not to be too intimidating, he decided. If there was one thing the man had learned from this ordeal, it was that Galen was easily spooked, and he could not afford for him to scurry away again.

The Director turned to address his troops. "The target is highest priority on this mission. On the penalty of your lives he is not to be killed or injured. You may only stun him as a last resort on _my_ command only." He paused, waiting for the orders to sink in. "He has a family as well. Wife and daughter. The wife…may be troublesome. Eliminate her if necessary."

Lyra really did cause too much trouble. The only reason he isn't planning to kill her on the spot is that it would alienate Galen.

"The child" he continued "stays alive. Stun her if you must but nothing else.

His Death Troopers nodded. Krennic always thought their name ridiculous. 'All troopers should be death troopers' he thought, 'we don't train them to maintain the trash compactors.'

He then felt his ship land with a dampened thud, the landing ramp proceeding to lower itself with a high mechanical whine. The grey-haired man slowly traversed the ramp and took in the humid climate, breathing deeply. Beneath him, he felt the slight crunch of boots on black sand. The Director sighed. If there was one silver lining to this whole unpleasantness, it was that the weather was nice.

Krennic then produced his DT-29 heavy blaster pistol and prepped the firing mechanism, just in case. Galen might be a pacifist, but his wife had less qualms about weapons. It was one of the few qualities he shared with the troublesome woman.

'Enough thinking, Orson. Time to get back on schedule.' He almost smiled at the thought.

With a signature swish, he turned to his troops. "We march." He ordered. And so the towering men in black plastoid armour fell into formation behind their determined commander in white, coming closer and closer to the small white hovel.

 _ **The Ersos, Moments Earlier**_

The Erso homestead was full of the mundane clatter of breakfast-making. Galen was pouring himself a cup of caf while Lyra was preparing Jyn's favourite bantha milk and pancake meal. They had sent their daughter out a while ago to go check on the whisperweed growing by the fields south of the homestead. Lyra figured that once the crop matured, she could use it to create a faithful facsimile of her mother's tasty stew. The Erso patriarch was sipping his caf when a dreaded beep came from a security monitor in the dining room.

The spouses looked at each other and then inspected the video recording their droid, Essie, had sent to them. On it was an angular small ship heading for the large sand fields across from their home.

"Krennic" Galen whispered, his voice dead. He had expected this day, prepared for it in his mind, yet now all plans he had ever conceived were gone from his mind.

"Galen"

He turned towards his wife, her face full of determination mixed with anxiety. She firmly put a hand on his shoulder.

"We need to get Jyn to the bunker."

"I know" he said shakily

Husband and wife then worked in scurried unison, packing food, clothes, and select toys for Jyn. All the while, Galen's mind was running scenarios at lightspeed. He could not run, not with his family, at least. He didn't have access to the resources that let them escape before, as much as Lyra always insisted they did. He absolutely would not re-join the Empire, they could not make him with Jyn and Lyra away, but that did beg the question…what would they do they captured him. He knew he could not take his own life. Years before Lyra, he had tried, but Galen was unable to. He was a coward. Maybe he could…

"Papa!"

Galen and Lyra turned to the door to see Jyn, breathing heavily. She must have been running.

"We know" was all his wife said.

"Jyn, gather your things" The Erso patriarch said. He made his way over to the living area console, collecting the spare power cell on top of it and putting it in his bag.

The house was brimming with activity. Galen and Lyra almost ran into each other once, and Galen into his daughter almost three.

 _BRINGG BRINGG_

The Erso family stopped in their tracks.

The sound repeated.

The elder Erso looked to his wife. "The commlink" he said to her. It was Krennic, it had to be. Galen desperately wanted to run, but he knew it was no use. His old friend was probably outside the homestead right now with a squad of stormtroopers surrounding the place.

Lyra looked to him. "Do we answer it?"

"We don't have a choice" He answered, almost in a whisper, his eyes transfixed at the video monitor. "Be ready to run with Jyn."

He wondered what Orson looked like after all this time. What a strange thing to think about, but the thought came to him nonetheless. He exhaled uneasily and then with the little courage he could muster, answered the commlink.

"Galen! Lyra! Are you both alright? What about Jyn?"

Galen was relieved and shocked. What he saw wasn't the cold angular face of his former friend, but the worried face of his brother-in-law, Kento Marek!

Lyra ran over to her husband's side.

"Kento! He found us. Krennic, he found us. He's here and we don't have much time!"

At that statement, Kento's look of concern turned to outright alarm.

"I feared something like this would happen. I sensed a coming darkness centred around your family. I had hoped contacting you would prove my uneasy feelings false." Kento looked away from his monitor in deliberation. Eventually, he spoke again. "I'm coming. As fast as I can. Lyra, Galen, go with Jyn. Hide somewhere. Don't worry about contacting me. I'll sense where you are when I arrive."

Before Galen or Lyra could thank the ex-Jedi, he had cut the transmission.

"We need to go." His wife said.

Galen stayed stationary, his body still oriented towards the blank screen. 'Could he truly run with his family?' he wondered. 'Could Kento be the changing factor that allowed him to stay with his family? More importantly, could Kento survive a confrontation with Krennic's troops? After all, they had killed off almost all the Jedi.'

"Galen!" His wife shouted. She grabbed him by the shoulders "We are leaving!"

He protested "Krennic won't leave the planet without me, he'll keep sending search parties he'll – "

"He won't be doing a damn thing when my brother arrives!" She angrily exclaimed.

Galen was startled. Lyra rarely yelled, and she seldom had anything positive to say about her brother. Though he did suppose that the circumstances they have themselves in are rather atypical.

"Papa, please don't fight with mum. I want you with us…please?'

Galen turned to his daughter. If he stayed, she'd lose him. He thought he'd be protecting her if he had his wife and daughter leave without him, and perhaps he was correct, but with Kento now coming…did he really need to stay?

"Okay, Stardust" he finally said. At that, Jyn smiled and he knew he'd made the right choice. The Erso patriarch then bent down to his daughter's level and hugged her. "We'll get through this" he said, willing himself to believe it. "We all will."

 _AN(2): So Galen decides to go run with his family! I feel like the inclusion of a Jedi would give him enough hope to go with his family. Saw wouldn't have been able to protect all three against Krennic and gang, but a Jedi is a different thing in Galen's mind. Of course, there is going to be tragedy in this fic (this isn't an "everybody lives" tale) but I want to inject as much light and hope into the characters and readers as I can before I crush it._

 _How is my writing of the characters so far? Any complaints, concerns, compliments? Feel free to review! I definitely want to hear your feedback!_

 _Until next week,_

 _GabeMart6_


	3. The Storm Before the Calm Pt1

**The Storm Before the Calm Pt.1**

 _ **Lah'mu**_

 _ **Krennic**_

Three hours. Three _kriffing_ hours on this humid backwater, and there had been no sign of his Galen Erso and his _precious_ wife and child. When the Director and his troops finally arrived at the edge of the property, Krennic commanded them that they wait. 'Surely, they could tell he was here' he thought. 'They would wallow in their sorrow and eventually, realising the inevitable, willingly come to me.' But frustratingly, this was not the case. After 20 minutes, he lost his patience completely.

"Ransack the place!" he commanded. "Find them!"

'His troops would raid the homestead and would surely haul the three Ersos to his feet. Yes, then he would be back on track.' The Director concluded smugly.

This theory, however, proved false when his comm buzzed and his Death Squad Leader reported in, relaying that the family had apparently fled.

"WHAT?!" Krennic had bellowed. He was furious. In another circumstance, he would have admired Galen's gall at thinking he could escape the inevitable, but the Director's rope was being hung as he stood and he did not have much time left before the Emperor would demand it taught.

"Burn this eyesore to the ground, Commander" he ordered angrily. "Then conduct search protocol Alpha-1. I want every blade of grass, every hill, every crevice, every cave covered for me, understand? Move!"

10 minutes later, and the overloaded power-generator was spreading red hot flames that licked at the surrounding greenery and darkened the already dark sand. Krennic had shot the protesting worker droid himself to finish off the job. He alone was a witness to this destruction; his faithful troops left soon after the sabotage to bring him what he was owed. The Director would only privately admit to himself that razing the homestead was wasteful. But if Galen was going to waste his valuable time with a pointless hide-and-go-seek venture then he'd be damned if he didn't take extra collateral.

And it was on this frustration that Krennic's mind dwelled on for the next hour and fourty-five, continuing through the consuming of rations that the Director had to walk _all the way back_ to the shuttle to acquire.

It was as he had finished his meal and was half considering razing the whole planet out of spite when his commlink pinged.

"What, Delain? Has Galen left the system? Have my troops deserted? Is Lord Vader here to kill me?" Krennic demanded hysterically. "I challenge you to make this day worse, Delain. Think very carefully about what you have to say to me."

"Umm...none of those things, sir" said his First Officer nervously and confused "But..but you're not going to believe this, sir" his First Officer said. "An Eta-2 _Actis_ -Class Jedi interceptor just came out of hyperspace and is currently making a roundabout descent to the planet… We wait advisement, Director?"

All of Krennic's hysteria vanished, replaced by shock, then confusion. Finally his mind began to put the pieces of information together.

'A Jedi, coming to Lah'mu the day that he came to retrieve Galen? The odds were too great to be a coincidence.'

The Director's mind then cleared of the incredulity that had been plaguing him for hours. Galen and his family didn't flee because they were stupid. What he had missed, or perhaps dismissed out of hand, was that they fled because they had hope. Now Krennic knew of the variable that gave them that hope: a Jedi, and one powerful and cunning enough to survive the Purge, nonetheless. He was not stupid; such a Jedi would be a threat, even with Death Troopers by his side. It would require great cunning and tactical know-how for him to come out on top.

Luckily, when it came to cunning tactics, Orson Krennic was among the best.

"We wait advisement, sir." Delain repeated, more anxiously now, weary of his commander after the outburst he had heard.

Krennic's mind, working in overdrive, was made up. "Let them land" he said calmly "the Jedi must be coming to protect the target, possibly to extract them. They will draw Erso and his family out into the open. Can you track the vessel?"

"Yes, sir. From cursory scans, the craft hasn't been in prime shape for years. The craft made no attempt to release a stealth buoy, and it likely wouldn't have worked anyways." Delain was eager and fast in delivering the information, likely relieved that he was talking to a sane man again.

'This one is desperate' Krennic thought. Jedi were known to be methodical; apparently this one lacked that quality. 'Perhaps it's not a Jedi at all and just a scummy smuggler who'd acquired it off the black market? 'No, Krennic did not have the luxury of hoping for the latter. He must prepare for a difficult fight, for even an idiotic Jedi is a dangerous one.

"Good, I want updates relayed to me and Death Squadron regularly."

"Yes, sir, it will be-"

The Director cut the enthusiastic man off. "Conduct a data search. Search for anything that would connect Galen or Lyra to a Jedi. If you run into red tape, use my clearance code…good work, Delain. I apologise for my outburst earlier." Krennic cut the transmission before the younger man could respond. The Director did not care for many and did not care for much, but he did care about competency. A lesser officer would have ordered the vessel pulverised as soon as he saw it, but not Delain. He knew how the chain of command properly functioned.

"Sir. Orders?" came a deep filtered voice from his right.

Krennic turned and saw his Death Squad leader approach. He could tell it was him because he was even taller than his towering comrades.

"You and Death Squad are to follow the updates sent by my FO to the Jedi's speeder. Do not engage them there. Trail the Jedi. They will draw the target out of hiding. Approach in formation as I'd originally planned."

He felt a pang, the Jedi craft had landed. The Director turned and started walking towards the sent coordinates.

"But sir" the Death Squad leader followed him "what will you be doing?"

Krennic turned, smirking at the tall armoured soldier and held up his blaster.

"You will know it when you see it."

Thunder clanged in the distance, catching the attention of both men. They looked up to the sky. Clouds had gathered together and were greying and blackening. Krennic begun to feel the light patter of rain hit his cap and uniformed shoulders.

"Have you ever killed a Jedi?" he suddenly asked the Trooper.

"No" the Leader said shortly. "The earliest squadrons of Death Troopers may have tested their mettle against captured Jedi padawans, but there were not any alive by the time I entered the program."

Krennic nodded "This is fitting then."

The Death Squad leader tilted his head questioningly.

"Sir?"

"Storms are crucibles, 5537" he said gravely. "You have that chance to test your mettle now." 'As I do' he told himself.

The Death Squad Leader nodded, and so he and the Director made their way up the small hills past the slowly dying flames of the Erso homestead, each desiring victory and enduring the increasing rainfall that symbolised the upcoming trial.

Their lives were going to change, and neither of them, in their slow determined march, knew the extent to which they would.

 _ **Kento**_

The old Jedi was on the clock the second his old craft had entered Lah'mu's space – right into the sights of an Imperialised version of the cruisers he used to command. Panic set into him and immediately Kento was pulled back into memories from the Clone Wars. Whenever he entered a battle in those years, he always felt the rotting presence of the Dark Side. To see a symbol of the Old Republic now in the squalor of the Dark...it was a feeling he never thought possible: pity for his dead Jedi friends.

'How they would weep at the sight of their perverted Republic, the Empire of Darkness. It's probably better that they're dead" he thought. They'd never have to live this pain. Now Kento did.

Pulled from his thoughts by the immediacy of the situation, Kento desperately made manoeuvres he hadn't in years that made his stomach churn in expectation of blaster fire...but none came. Confused, the aging man quit his clumsy acrobatics and bolted for the planet's surface in the most roundabout way he could fathom, pondering the situation presented before him. The Imperials hadn't fired on him…which meant that they wanted him down there. Only he alive could lead them to Lyra and her family.

'Damn' he thought 'That means someone smart is in charge.'

The ex-Jedi reached out with the Force, searching for his baby sister and her family. Soon he could feel them. Soon after, he landed on a canyon a few klicks from where he sensed them to be. Climbing out of the cockpit, Kento surveyed the area below him and fell gracefully to the windy grasslands beneath the rock face.

Kento moved with a speed he seldom used in the years following his abandonment of the Order. He knew his stealth buoy didn't work; most of the features on his starfighter didn't. It was a welcome miracle that his model's experimental hyperdrive was working. Even so, a quick getaway would be useless to the ex-Jedi if he was backed into a corner by Imperial troops.

Unfortunately, the cloudy sky soon greyed and blackened when he began his trek towards his family. Kento had to stop and enable the water-safety on his lightsabre before continuing onward. He'd had one ever since his sabre shorted out during the Battle of Kamino. _That_ was a nightmare.

And so the ex-Jedi continued his mission. Curiously, Kento noticed that the Force was swirling around him in fierce currents, and that they were growing in their ebbs and flows the closer he got to where Lyra was.

It scared him.

His family was surrounded by importance, by purpose. And Kento had no idea why. What disturbed him most was the feeling of Darkness, in such a ferventness he had not felt since the initial phase of the Purge.

He crossed another marshy field when he knew he had finally found the place he was looking for: a tall, ark jagged cave, positioned not a minute from him down a steep slope.

He leapt without a second thought and sprinted over to the entrance, his legs imbued with the Force, not slowing as he kicked up mud and soaked grass behind him. The ex-Jedi soon reached the mouth of the cave, but stopped in his tracks at the sudden shift in the Force.

The Force was silent.

Gone was the deluge that he had been drowning in, that had oversaturated the air Kento had been struggling to breath in. What replaced it was an air of serenity the middle-aged man had rarely felt. The Force wasn't…gone, per se…for when Kento reached out he could feel the fiery passion of Lyra, the anxiousness of Galen that so mirrored his own, and the fear and love that his niece, Jyn, felt for her parents. He simply could not fathom why he sensed what he sensed…for this feeling of serenity in silence to only be a few metres away from the conflict and gravity brewing in the Force. It was almost like he had entered the eye of a storm.

Kento shook himself from his thought. 'I can make sense of this _after_ we escape this strange place.'

He followed his instincts to a small rock just wide enough for humans to climb down. This was the place.

"Lyra" he called, trying to come out over the heavy rain "it's me, we- "

"Kento!"

The rock-hatch was thrown open and out came the relieved form of his sister, who then ran up to him and hugged him tight.

"Brother! I'm sorry for everything, thank you so much for coming, I'll never forget this, I love you, I'm so sorry for everything." 

She seemed to want to continue but tears that had been bottling up were pouring out. Kento just held his sister tightly, his mind blanking on what to possibly say. Lyra must have been terrified out of her mind, for her to confess all of that. His baby sister was never forward with her emotions, unless that emotion was anger.

'Not the time to think about this' the ex-Jedi chastised himself again.

"Shh…don't worry about it, of course I'd come. You're my baby sister."

He looked past Lyra and saw his brother-in-law and niece standing back by the rock-hatch, both looking gratefully at him, and both still scared. Jyn, of course, was looking at him almost in awe, like she was meeting a legend. 'Ah, Galen must have been telling stories.'

He slowly pried his sister off him.

"I'd love to have this family reunion now, but we need to leave right now. The Imperials have to be tracking me and the longer this storm goes on, the less luck we're going to have."

Lyra wiped the tears from her eyes and produced a blaster from a brown cloth bag she was sporting, smirking. "Ready if you are." She answered.

Kento nodded and turned towards the two Ersos. "What about you Galen? Jyn?"

Jyn merely nodded in the affirmative.

"Yes" Galen answered shakily.

The ex-Jedi nodded. "Let's get off this rock." The brown-robed man said, turning towards the entrance of the cave

"I'm afraid we can't allow that" came a cold filtered voice. It stopped Kento and the Ersos right in their tracks.

From the shadows of the side of the cave, the presence of a tall black-armoured Imperial trooper revealed itself, with his blaster rifle pointed square at Lyra.

"Don't any of you move. If I see a blaster or sabre raised, I will vaporise the head right off your sister."

The figure spoke calmly of murder. 'This was no bluff' Kento knew that, even without trying to feel him through the Force, and strangely…he couldn't.

The trooper then spoke through a comm. "Death Squad, Director. I have them."

The ex-Jedi was helpless, like he had felt so often during the Clone Wars. But this was worse. This time it was his family he had failed to protect.

He didn't know how any of them would get out of this. Any of them.

 _AN: I'm so sorry this chapter is a few days late! College is busy and, unfortunately for my writing endeavours, that comes first. Hopefully I made up for it by this chapter being a bit longer than the previous two._

 _Tell me what you all think!_

 _I loved writing Krennic truly panicked. He seems so arrogant in the opening of RO. I just had to play with the idea of what would happen if things nearly went so wrong for him right there._

 _The Death Squad Leader gets some characterisation which was fun to explore. I wonder if we'll see more of him…._

 _Lastly, I'm curious to your thoughts on Kento's portrayal. He's a man that clearly cared for the Republic and the Jedi, but not to the dogmatic extent that others were. At least my version of him isn't. I hope it translates well to the page._

 _Thank you for being patient!_


	4. The Storm Before the Calm Pt2

_AN: So sorry again for the delay. Hopefully it being extra-long makes up for it. Enjoy! It's a doosy!_

 **The Storm Before the Calm (Pt.2)**

 _ **Galen**_

As he and his family were being marched out of the cave by the armour-clad figure, one drilling thought continually manifested itself without reprieve in his head: He was a fool. There was no chance at escaping Krennic: as soon as he landed on the planet he had lost. To allow himself hope because a Jedi came calling…it was a desperate, misguided, and now, a fatal feeling that he had allowed himself. Thousands of Jedi had died at the hands of clones. Even Skywalker had been gunned down in that old temple of theirs. The worst part of all, was that he had delayed Krennic beyond the point of acceptability. His old friend was not a patient man at the best of times. He may as well have kicked a Granger hornet's nest.

The trooper soon commanded them all to take the steep trek to the top of the cliff that overlooked the cave that had been their hiding spot. It was difficult in the rain, and had to have taken at least 10 minutes, but they pushed on, because they had to. Their capturer made sure he arrived at the top first, ensuring no one would make a run for it if they had tried to get there first. He then pointed his blaster down at the group, so that no one would try to escape by going down the incline.

Kento came to the top first, likely helped by his abilities, and then Galen. When the ex-scientist completed his ascent of the cliffside, he could see four towering, clad-in-black troopers on the approach, not 20 feet away and closing. Lyra came up a minute later, followed lastly by Jyn, who had to be pulled up by one of the black stormtroopers.

"We wait for the Director." Their captor said to the rest of the assembled squadron when they arrived. Apparently, he was their leader.

Galen shivered. Whether it was in fear or in cold, he could not know. By now, the rain was coming down hard and was soaking the thin material that composed his farmer garments. To his right was Jyn, holding on tightly to his hand. She was whimpering, but he could not tell if she were crying or if it was the rain water streaming down her face, perhaps both. Lyra was to his left, silently fuming, a mixture of defeat and anger, and at the end of the line was Kento. He was the hardest to read, Galen saw. His hooded head angled downward, it would be difficult for anyone to understand the Jedi. Was he meditating, as so many of his kind did? Was he angry or sad, like his wife? Was he waiting for the right moment to strike? Galen certainly placed all hope he had left on the latter.

 _ **Kento**_

This is what it's like to be ex-Jedi, Kento Marek right now. You feel old, older than any man (or sentient) should be able to feel. You feel useless, despite years of Jedi doctrine milling about in your head, that says you are the most powerful thing out there. And now, after years of denial, the simple fact bursts from a dam of stubbornness and floods you with the reality that their teachings were lies. While you are being internally flooded, you also feel the drenching of the outside rain while the feelings of your family join in your personal deluge.

Lyra, with the furious exterior, is breaking inside. Experiencing the rise of hope and then having it swiftly crushed is a travesty in anyone, but with her the pain stings extra. For her and Kento.

Jyn, you notice next. For her age, she is brave – in _or_ out of the Jedi Order, you'd argue. And when she glances at you, you look away. You were a hero…and now she wonders how a great man like you could fail in circumstances such as these. But you also think 'What right does she have to place that on you when you never wanted to be a damned hero in the first place?'

And lastly, you notice Galen. In him you are surprised to feel his cluttered mind filled with only a single presence. Quiet fear. And you blame him for it. If he had just bucked up and gotten his family, his Lyra, out of here, or hidden them better, you and Lyra wouldn't be in this situation.

Finally, you turn to yourself again and realise that you are afraid. More afraid than you've ever been. Afraid that you'll die with your sister and her family here, brutally and forgotten. Afraid that the urgent trip that you convinced Mallie was necessary and that you'll be back soon…that she'll be wondering the rest of her days how and when and where you died.

You realise that, above all, you need to see this Krennic for yourself; if he is the quiet terror that Galen is thinking of, the figure crushing Lyra's hope, that if he really is all that…you'll need to use your fear.

'Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.' Are words that come to you, drilled into you by Yoda and countless dogmatists.

No.

Fear makes you faster, stronger, efficient. Anger gives you focus. If anything, it's your enemies that will be suffering. That's how the Sith usurped the stagnant Jedi. Strength and efficiency are the tools of the enemy; therefore, it should be yours as well. You will get yourself out of this, and then you make sure to show Galen and Jyn how to properly respect him and his sister.

This is how it feels to be Kento Marek right now. This is how it feels to truly die as a Jedi. This is how it feels to be reborn as an agent of Darkness.

 _ **Krennic**_

'Victory is sweet.'

That is what the Director thought to himself when his Death Squad Leader contacted him over com. He had to admit, that he was surprised that they had been caught so quickly, that no struggle occurred.

'The Jedi must have lost whatever touch he had. He got this far on luck.'

Still he was at a loss for words when the call came. So he didn't speak. Instead he let himself grin like an idiot as he trudged through the earthy slush towards the Death Leader's position – and towards his owed prize.

He'd decide how he'd punish Galen for wasting his time when he arrived. 'Send Lyra off to the Kessel Spice Mines? Withhold food from the child?' It was hard to decide. He had to assert authority over the stubborn fool, but if he went too far, the brilliant scientist would just mope about and stall work on the project. He'd be exactly where he started if that happened.

The walk to the site commed to him was shorter than he expected. At the edge of a cliff edge stood his tall imposing troops in formation. In front of them, presumably, stood Galen and his failed posse of rebels.

"Good work, 5537!" he yelled over the downpour.

At this the troops parted in the middle, allowing him to look at his prize, and the unfortunate additions that came along with him.

The Director allowed himself a few moments to observe the state of his captives.

They were a pathetic lot. The child, as children do, was crying. She clearly has no concept of the traitorous machinations her parents had brought her into. He would be merciful to her, he decided. Krennic would send her off to the Imperial academy; they would ensure her weakness be crushed and her life made to serve the Empire.

Galen was next to her, and like Krennic was him, the ex-scientist appeared to be observing him. His eyes were studying the Director's face, surely making note of the age lines that had appeared since Galen had fled. He himself was surprised as to the state of his comrade's facial hair. Most prominently, Krennic could practically taste the fear from Galen.

'Good,' he thought.

His attention then turned to Lyra. Unlike past years where the two operated together under the façade of civility, the woman's disgust and hatred of him were finally fully present for him to see. 'So visceral' he thought. He wondered then if the escape plan was Lyra's. The impudent nature of it fit her style more than it did Galen. Oh, he would find a special hell for her, Krennic decided,

Finally, he turned his attention to the Jedi. Like members of his Order of old, he wore brown hooded robes and had an air of serenity about him. Curiously, though, he exhibited none of the Jedi arrogance that typified his ilk, for he did not look into Krennic's eyes, in quiet challenge, like he expected. Instead, the Jedi had his bowed, as if in meditation.

The Director simply raised his eyebrow in curiosity.

Finally, he spoke, turning towards Galen.

"You're a hard man to find, Galen."

Galen's head turned up at him.

"But," Krennic continued, walking towards him "Did you really think that you'd really be able to run, once I found you?" His friend was silent.

"Was it because of him?" he gestured his head towards the silent Jedi.

"Why have you come?" was all Galen said, ignoring the question.

"You know damn well why!" Krennic shouted "The work has stalled, so I need you back. Don't act the fool, Galen. You ran, you know why I'm here." 

"I won't do it Krennic" his stubborn friend replied.

"Won't!?"

Krennic slapped the man hard across the face, bringing him to his knees. Lyra made for him, but the cocking of his troops' guns stalled her.

The Director ignored the woman and tried to soften his approach.

"We were…on the verge of greatness. We were this close to providing peace and security for the galaxy."

Galen stood up timidly, nursing his wound. "You're confusing peace with terror."

'What a bloody idealist' he thought "Well...you have to start somewhere."

This illicited no response from his old friend, so he switched tactics, turning his attention now to Lyra.

"Your husband is coming with me" he said definitively "You understand?"

She too, said nothing.

Krennic then looked at his hand and clenched it in frustration. "You made this so difficult Lyra. I was willing to forgive all. Place you all back in the same apartment...supervised family visits, best Imperial education for the child…hell, I was willing to drop you back on this miserable, rustic backwater when the project was completed!"

He stopped at this point, out of breath. Seeing Lyra's look of incredulity, he continued.

"I can still forgive this, I will even keep it from the Emperor and Darth Vader that I've found you with a Jedi…but I need to _know_ how you and Galen know the man, Lyra. And he needs to die."

Lyra paused, considered, and then…produced a small blaster from her sleeve and pressed it right to his forehead.

Guns cocked again towards her, but the Director held up his hand to stop them.

"Lyra, Lyra…troublesome as ever." he produced as much venom in his voice as he could.

"You will never win, Orson" returning his disdain in equal measure.

"Put the gun down, or your brother is getting the brunt of my blaster bolts."

Krennic recognised the filtered voice of 5537 and suddenly so much was clear. If only the trooper could have delivered that information to him earlier' he thought, irritated. 'I'll deal with _that_ later.'

He noticed that Lyra's grip on her blaster was loose, she was trembling. She did not anticipate him getting that piece of information.

"A brother?" He let the understanding dawn in his voice.

Krennic then looked directly into Lyra's eyes. It was time to enact his little plan.

"Don't worry about your brother, Lyra" he said calmly, while deftly activating his comm to the correct channel, "You won't be alive to see us kill him."

Then, for all, came the sound of a high calibre blaster shot, that impacted Lyra Erso square in the back. The foolish woman crumpled before him, sprawling out by his feet.

The child screamed, Galen cried out. This was expected, now for the Jed - .

*Bzzring*

Krennic turned in alarm. From the Jedi's person, he had equipped his lightsabre, which glowed a brilliant azure that illuminated the dark area around the man.

The Jedi was no longer in a pensive, calm state. His face, no longer obscured by a hood, Krennic could see the man snarling in rage…this was no Jedi, they did not get angry, they did not seek revenge. No, this creature was much more dangerous than a Jedi. And he had just provoked it.

The man now looked directly at Krennic, his eyes burning yellow, and full of rage.

'Oh shit.' The Director did not pretend to hide his panic anymore.

"Fire!"

 _ **Kento**_

Kento was seeing red, he was seeing yellow, he was seeing and feeling burning in his eyes, and throughout his whole being.

He was a conduit of rage.

The first shot came from behind, from that bastard sniper who killed his baby sister. So he dropped to his knees and whipped his lightsabre behind him into the starting position of Djem So. The faint thunk of plasma on armour confirmed his deflection had succeeded with deadly accuracy.

His next need was to get his sabre through the Imperial labdog's heart. He had been too preoccupied with the sniper, however, for the coward had retreated behind the wall of his remaining four troops. They wasted no time trying to fill him full of holes, but, for whatever reason, they were holding back. Probably don't want to hit Galen.

Good. 'They will be much easier to kill' he thought hungrily. And his vengeance grew.

The first tall troop in his way met the brunt of it, for Kento saw fit to remove the blaster from his person by removing his arm from his person. For good measure, he severed the monster's head from his body in one lethal swish.

Turning towards the remaining three, the ex-Jedi sprinted for those that kept Krennic from him. They shot for his legs, a good move if they were fighting a Jedi novice. But he was no novice. And he was no Jedi.

Yet, for how brightly rage burns, it rarely sustains, so Kento dispatched with those firing on him quickly, with sabre cuts to the chest. He had finally reached his goal, but…why, the terrified fool was running away.

'Hard to see a man flee when his bodyguards are the size of Wookie teenagers. No matter.'

Kento reached out into the force and commanded it do his will. He found the putrid force presence of the aging man and, thrusting out his arm, yanked. Hard.

 _ **Krennic**_

Orson Krennic, like any who worked in the Republic during the Clone Wars, heard stories concerning the abilities of the Jedi. The Director could now see that tales which had always thought were full of hyperbole and embellishment, were underselling the raw power that they possessed.

As soon as the Jedi had focused his attention on his sniper, he ran for his troops. Embarrassment did not enter his mind, reputation did not enter his mind, for he right then was as scared as he had ever been. Being the faithful soldiers that they were, they parted, allowing for him to surround himself with the best killers under his command.

But he could soon tell that it was not enough.

Soon after Lyra's brother had killed his sniper, he rushed toward the outermost troop in his guard and dismembered him (TWICE). Krennic saw the man do it with the ease of a cook slicing Lexrulan ham, but with a rage and power that would make Imperial torturers quake in their boots.

So he ran. Damn Galen, damn the project, damn the Emperor, he was not going to end up like his men would. In years to come, The Director would entirely leave out this part of the ordeal, when asked at social functions; it was damned stupid – not to mention traitorous.

But as he was running, trying to ignore the whooshes and slices and screams, he found himself being pulled back towards the murderous lunatic, as if by some invisible force, and felt the searing pain of the ancient blade detaching his right arm from his body.

He landed ungracefully on the muddy ground, and before he could process the pain, shock, think of what to do,..

*GLONK*

The cruel bastard had kicked him in the side.

Hard. So hard it probably broke a couple ribs.

Above him Krennic saw the panting form of the Jedi. His eyes were still a disconcerting yellow, and his mouth had formed a snarl that was threatening to froth. Most alarmingly, his azure sabre was a hair's width away from his throat.

"You do not run from me, Empire!" yelled the crazed man. "You've. Taken. EVERYTHING. From me! You don't get to run. No one gets to run! Cause as soon as I'm done with you, old man, I'm taking care of the stupid husband and daughter who got my Lya in this spot in the first place

Krennic said nothing, he just took in every detail of the man who would become his killer, and who, it seemed, was going to murder the people he came to protect. He refused to say a word. He and Galen and his daughter…everyone would be discovered here, dead, by Delain. He would contact Vader or Tarkin and they would hunt down the Jedi and the project may be lost, the weapon never completed. He closed his eyes as the Jedi raised his weapon, regretting the loss of his life, the death of his project, and, surprisingly, the soon to be death of his old friend and his daughter.

*PROHW*

He felt the thud of the Jedi onto the wet ground next to him. After a few moments of apprehension, Krennic opened his eyes and shifted them to his right. There lay Lyra's brother, dead…with what looked like a plasma impact.

The Director managed to get himself to his feet with his one arm and saw none other than his Death Squad Leader, 5537. The trooper was kneeling on one knee, his blaster rifle still pointed at the area where the Jedi had recently occupied. 5537 was also propped up against Galen, who, to his surprise, seemed to not be bothered by the fact at all.

Krennic hobbled over towards him.

Upon further observation, 5537 was sporting a parting slash across the breastplate of his armour. He had survived the onslaught, if just barely.

"Thank you." He finally said, and 5537 deserved it.

Krennic then turned to Galen, who had stood up and was cradling his daughter in his arms.

They both stared at each other, for what seemed like minutes, just taking in the other's shape.

"Kento" Galen finally uttered.

"What?"

"Kento…Lyra's brother. He said he'd take us away. Said he would protect Jyn, Lyra, and I." it seemed like Galen was struggling to get the words out. "But…he slaughtered you all…was going to kill us after killing you. That wasn't peace. That wasn't security." He finished.

"What are you saying, old friend." Krennic said, as he was nursing his stump of an arm.

"I'm saying..." He glanced at Lyra, at the dead bodies scattered across the downpour, at the downed form of Kento, at Jyn who Krennic had just now noticed was softly crying into his shoulder, and then, finally, to him and Death Leader.

"I'm coming back."

 _AN: Woah! What did you guys think? Review if you got something to say, I love input!_

 _To address some things:  
_

_Kento's been through a lot. I'm curious what y'all think of the turn and his motivations. Imo, he would've been able to come back from his dark thoughts if Lyra hadn't been killed._

 _I will admit that writing action is my biggest weakness. If anyone wants to suggest how I can improve, or hell, rewrite the action in this Chapter way better and show me your stuff, I might want to make you a credited consultant! God knows, there's a lot of action in Star Wars._

 _Galen makes a pretty radical decision here that may seem a huge departure from canon. I hope I gave enough reasoning here, but not to worry, there will be more. If I get enough feedback I will publish a tie-in "This is what it's like to be Galen Erso right now" piece that takes place during the chapter proper_

 _Until next week!_


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